The above-referenced patent application Ser. No. 933,502, discloses an apparatus and method for automatically loading a floating vessel with flowable solids in the port-to-starboard plane. In that application, the activity of a dockside flowable material delivery apparatus is controlled by an electrical signal generated by a pendulum-type list or slope sensor on the vessel which senses list in the port-to-starboard plane and produces an electrical signal which is proportional to the degree of list.
The present invention is directed to the automatic loading of a water-borne vessel in the fore and aft plane or from end-to-end without dependency on human observation and control. A much more accurate and satisfactory end result is achieved, wherein the vessel can be loaded to capacity end-to-end by conventional dockside material delivery equipment, and the load-out of the vessel is terminated automatically with the vessel in a substantially perfectly level condition. Such favorable result cannot ordinarily be achieved when the load-out is under control of one or more human operators because of inherent inaccuracies in depth perception and other visual observations. The automatic load-out of vessels achieved by the invention is also more economical in the long run.
Prior U.S. Pat. No. 3,612,302 is made of record herein under 37 C.F.R. 1.56. While this patent broadly discloses list responsive floating vessel loading means, the system is purely mechanical and requires the use of customized material distributing means on the barge or vessel, in contrast to this invention which allows the full use of standard vessels and conventional dockside equipment. Furthermore, the prior art device lacks the capability of the present invention to automatically load a floating vessel from end-to-end and terminate the load-out with the loaded vessel in a loaded state.
Additional features and advantages of the invention will become apparent during the course of the following detailed description.